Buildings of Newport (32)

St Woolos School

A stroll down the hill from the cathedral brings you to St Woolos Primary School which celebrated its centenary year in 2004.
As well as being an education facility, during times of conflict the building also doubled as housing for Allied soldiers, Headteacher Heather Vaughan said: "During the war, American troops were housed on the top floor."
The school has been left with a lasting r,eminder of its temporary occupants, the words 'US Army 1944' have been engraved into a downstairs windowsill.
The grade two listed building also bears testament to the changing fashion of its staff.
The top floor is riddled with stiletto heel marks along the paths most trodden by teachers.
Ms Vaughan also highlighted the mesage this school sent out to local residents when it was built. She said: "A lot of care and love went into this building to show education is important."
As part of its centenary celebrations, the school has produced volumes which contain memories of former pupils as well as reports of daily activities at the school, including the half holiday given to celebrate the signing of the armistice and the hour spent by 'scholars' in the shelters and stairways owing to an air attack in July 1940.

The volumes also afford a glimpse of life at the school for the children over the course of the past 100 years, one passage from the early 1900s sheds light on how a teacher earned his nickname: "The top form was taken by Mr Davies ("Dapper Dan": I think the "Dapper" came from his punishments with a plimsoll rather than his sartorial elegance)"